Appointed August 2018 · President Donald Trump→ Attorney General Jeff Sessions
8 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Zakia Mahasa earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1981 from the University of Maryland and a Juris Doctor in 1986 from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. From 1997 to 2018, she served as a magistrate in the Circuit Court for Baltimore. Earlier she was a supervising and staff attorney for the House of Ruth domestic violence legal clinic in Baltimore from 1992 to 1997 and an attorney with the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland from 1987 to 1992.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,194
Completions per year
7,165 total
1.2%
Detained at decision
share of cases
47.9 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
19.4%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
0%
Appeals remanded or reversed
22 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
65.4%
497 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
19.5%
354 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
60%⚠
25 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100%⚠
40 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
97.6%⚠
41 decisions Too few cases
65.4%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 497 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
65.4%
This court
32.6%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 9% of the 825 judges nationally with enough cases to compare.
Does a lawyer matter here?
Asylum grant rate by whether the person had legal representation.
With a lawyerrepresented · 471 decisions since 2021
68.4%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 26 decisions since 2021
11.5%
Asylum grant rate over time
Each point is that calendar year's grant rate, back to 2015 where the judge was deciding cases — the longer career view. Dashed grey line = current national average (31.8%). Headline rates above use 2021 – today.
* 2026 is a partial year (data through 06/01/2026) and is incomplete.
Courts where this judge has decided cases
Hearing locations for cases this judge completed since 2021, by number of decisions.
Many judges hear cases from more than one court (detained facilities, video dockets, or reassignments).